HIGHLIGHTS

Kuldeep Yadav picked wicket in each of his four overs to finish with his career-best Indian Premier League figures on Tuesday.

Kolkata Knight Riders' chinaman Kuldeep ended with 4/20 from his four overs against Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata as the two teams faced-off to reach 14 points and strengthen their chances of making the play-offs.

Put in to bat, Rajasthan Royals were off to a fiery start thanks to a 63-run stand between openers Rahul Tripathi (27) and Jos Buttler (39) in 4.5 overs.

The two batsmen clobbered 10 consecutive boundaries, including 28 by Buttler off pacer Shivam Mavi in the third over.

Kuldeep was introduced in the eighth over and immediately made an impact when he clean bowled Ajinkya Rahane.

It was no looking back for the left-arm spinner and he maintained the intensity with wickets of Buttler, Stuart Binny (1) and Ben Stokes (11) in his next three overs as Royals were bundled out for 142 in 19 overs.

In reply, Chris Lynn (45) and Dinesh Karthik (41*) batted sensibly and propelled KKR to the total with two overs to spare.

Here's how Kuldeep spun a web around the RR batsmen:

7.2 overs: K Yadav to A Rahane, OUT! Needless from Rahane! Throws his wicket away. Yadav slips in a googly around the leg stump, Rahane gets into position and picks up the wrong one as well. Tries the unorthodox reverse sweep but ends up missing it completely to get his stumps lit up. A mini comeback from Kolkata. They would be aiming to chip away at the wickets.

9.2 overs: K Yadav to Jos Buttler, OUT! Kuldeep gets the big fish! This is a really, really vital breakthrough for the hosts. He gets his second wicket and is bringing his side back into the contest. Smartly bowls a cross seam ball in line of the stumps, Buttler who gets into position to reverse sweep it, is perhaps foxed by the extra pace on it. Ends up mistiming it towards backward point where Javon Searles is safe as a house. The yellow flags are up in the crowd. A gem of a knock from Jos is cut short. After scoring five consecutive fifties, he fails to score one this time.

11.1 overs: K Yadav to S Binny, OUT! 3-fer for Kuldeep Yadav! He is having a ball out there. That was a really poor shot selection from Binny. The chinaman bowls the wrong one well outside off, Stuart is on the move and tries to clip it through mid-wicket. A really risky thing to do and he pays the price for it. Gets beaten and Karthik behind the stumps is sharp as a hawk. Whips the bails off in a flash to catch the batsman short. This has been a turnaround of sorts.

13.5 overs: K Yadav to Ben Stokes, OUT! Best figures for the chinaman in this League! Take a bow, Kuldeep Yadav. He has outfoxed the batsmen from the word go with his wide array of variations. Stokes' poor run with the bat continues. Bowls a tossed up ball in line of the stumps from around the wicket, Stokes doesn't have any space to work with. Closes his bat face too early and ends up chipping it back to Yadav. He pouches it safely, tumbles down and kisses the ball. Michael Clarke on air mentions that there was a set plan in place. Kuldeep bowled 5-6 balls from this angle to the Englishman, cramping him up and got the reward.

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